Anne Herbert is a Maryland Newborn Photographer. Anne's passion for photography lives among the brand newness of those first few days of life, holding on to those fleeting moments of childhood, and the magic of love and family.

My clients are always asking how they can best prepare for their sessions with me. I have guides that I send out to help them be ready for sessions, but I though I’d share a few of my top tips for getting ready for a one year old milestone session with you on the blog today. I’ll be using images from a recent session with little Camden, who I also had the pleasure of photographing as a newborn (here), to help show you how successful you session can be when you follow these tips.

Camden is crazy adorable, isn’t he? He was born with a great head of hair and mom and dad wanted to keep it long until after the shoot so we could document it. I love this!

If your child has something unique that helps showcase their personality, bring it! In this case it was Camden’s hair, but if they have a special lovie or toy, the milestone session is a fantastic way to capture that love and help take your mind back to that point in time.

Celebrate and Document Accomplishments! It’s my job as the photographer to make sure we capture all of the hard work your baby has been doing as he or she is growing. Above we see an excellent sitter and below shows all of the standing and mobility that is taking place.

Have several outfits on hand. Camden’s parents are huge Orioles fans. We incorporated this into the newborn session and continued that theme for part of the milestone session. Studio sessions can benefit greatly from multiple outfit changes. This helps create variety in your gallery. It’s good to bring extra outfits so we can coordinate with background and props, but they are also great to have as a backup in the event of spills or accidents. Even if your baby doesn’t like being changed, it’s better to have it on hand just in case.

Bring Snacks and drinks. I don’t know about you, but when I haven’t eaten I can get seriously hangry (just in case you live under a rock this is getting angry when you are hungry). I like to work in 5-10 minute segments and give babies plenty of time in between to do what they want. Snacks and drinks on hand help keep them happy and also give me something to be funny and play games with. Camden stopped to snack and play several times, and it was the magic formula to keep those smiles coming.

My last tip is for parents. It’s more work than you think to get ready for your baby’s milestone session. Don’t wait until the last minute to get everything together, because I promise it will stress you out! Plan out your baby’s outfit(s) at least a week before so that you can get any extra items if needed. Also set aside anything special you want to bring. Have snacks packed and ready a few days before so you aren’t reaching for the Puffs only to find an empty can of dust right before you go. Make sure you give your baby a bath the night before so you aren’t rushing through it the day of. Check to make sure teeth, hands, and hair is free of debris before you leave. I say all of this so that you aren’t stressed out, and that’s my #1 tip for a successful session: Stay Calm. Even the most serene of mothers can crack if she waits until the last minute (I know, I’ve been there!). The reason I want parents to be calm is that your emotions are infectious, and I promise you they rub off on to your child. It’s much more challenging to get real smiles from a child who’s mommy has been fretting in front of them all morning. Prepare as much as you can in advance and you’ll have given yourself the best chance to stay calm the day of your session.

Milestone sessions are a bit magical. You love the images when you get them back, but something happens as time passes. That image comes to mean something else entirely as your child grows. Year after year as you walk by the images on your wall, or flip through your album, that feeling of “isn’t he/she so cute and sweet?” is replaced by a sentimentality that is really hard to explain.

I have images like these and they are more valuable than gold to me. When I see them they fill my heart, sometimes even with sadness or longing to have that moment back. Seeing them each day reminds me how important it is to enjoy TODAY, because it will be a memory just like those pictures… much sooner than I think. I am truly blessed to document this special time for my clients.

Noelle was so beautiful and snuggly! I really enjoyed meeting her parents and watching them all together as a new family. I’m majorly behind on blogging (like 22 sessions behind!) so I’ll get right to the good stuff…

Welcome to the world, Noelle!

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Anne is a Maryland Newborn Photographer serving the Maryland area.

She is a member of the National Association of Child Professional Photographers as well as the International Association of Newborn Photographers.

To contact Anne to book your newborn baby photos, email anne@anneherbertphotography.com or the click the word “contact” on the navigation bar at the top.

Hello and welcome! I am a newborn and baby photographer based just north of Baltimore, Maryland. If you are here for the first time I invite you to have a look around my page! I’m giving you fair warning that my clients are super cute, so they might give you a serious case of baby fever.

During the last warm weekend of fall I caught up with Chanel and Torrey Smith and their handsome son TJ to capture all of the remarkable changes that have happened in the past three months. TJ is now sitting up on his own and even more expressive than ever. One of my favorite things to observe as my little clients grow is watching their parents fall deeper in love with them. I know from experience that when you see your baby for the first time, you fall so hard in love with them it surprises you. But what you don’t yet know is that this love you think can’t possibly get any bigger starts to grow even more as you care for them and get to know who they are. At six months their little personalities are shining through. I love capturing how cute TJ is, and documenting the dynamic of joy being expressed in the Smith family has been really special.

Below are some images from his six month milestone session. We photographed at Baugher’s Orchard in Westminister, Maryland. The good people there were so accommodating and drove me all around the beautiful property before the session so that I could scout the best location. I decided on one of the older groves with as much backlighting as possible located on flatter ground. I then went to take a few photographs of TJ in his nursery and we headed over to Baugher’s for the rest of the shoot.

It was such an honor to photograph little Elliana for Melissa and Lee. She was mostly sleepy and ALL adorable. Melissa requested purples and mints to compliment Elliana’s room. I just love the way her images came out and I hope you do as well…

Welcome to the world, Elliana!

***Anne is a newborn photographer serving the greater Baltimore, Maryland area. To contact Anne to set up your Baltimore Newborn Photography appointment, email anne@anneherbertphotography.com or the click the word contact on the navigation bar at the top. Contact Anne in your second trimester to ensure you get a spot on her schedule for newborn photos. Call halfway through your pregnancy to schedule maternity photos.***

I love this family! If you want to see them growing up before my lens be sure to check out these sessions (here , here, and here). Most recently we met at the Liriodendron Mansion in Bel Air, Maryland for a family session. I can’t believe how grown up the kids are getting! We had a great time and lots of laughs as the adults brainstormed creative ways to get the kids smiling. Although our methods worked on them, they worked on us as well and there were plenty of smiles to go around.